Lightning
by Caitiy
Summary: Sometimes all it takes is a little reassurance.


Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or the characters contained therein, they belong to Masashi Kishimoto who is kind enough to let fans write fiction. I make no profit from this nor do I intend to.

A/N: This is another one-shot from The KakaSaku Archive. It's from when I was doing a lot of younger Sakura and Kakashi fluff fics - which, strangely enough, is what I've been working on lately as well. :-) Happy Reading!

~*~*~*~

Lightning

Sakura shifted again for what seemed like the millionth time, just plain unable to get comfortable. She flinched slightly at another distant boom followed by the flash of light that momentarily illuminated the cave they had taken shelter in for the night. Briefly, she could see two of her teammates obliviously sleeping not too far away. The young kunoichi rearranged herself again before sighing and giving up on sleep.

Finally, she pulled herself into a sitting position wondering if her team leader would be upset with her for not going to sleep as he had told her to. Thunder crashed again and made up her mind for her. Quietly, Sakura crept to the mouth of the cave where her sensei was sitting watch, his favorite little orange books keeping him company.

Cautiously, she sat down a short distance away from him, watching the approaching storm. So far it was all special effects without the actual rain, but she knew the rain would eventually come. The pink-haired girl noticed that for only a second the older man pulled his eye from his book to regard her quietly; after an uncomfortable moment, he seemed to decide to let her stay, and returned his attention to his book. Inwardly, Sakura let out a sigh of relief and settled herself a little more comfortably to observe the approaching bad weather.

She watched the storm rage on in the open area just below their cave, and flinched as a bolt of lightning struck a tree a couple hundred yards away, spraying smoking shards of wood across the clearing. The wind, which had been relatively tame in limiting itself to rustling the leaves on the trees, took this as some sort of a signal and started pounding the remaining trees in earnest. Another roll of thunder rumbled followed directly by another, closer, bolt of lightning. Subconsciously, Sakura inched a little closer to her sensei.

"Sensei?" she asked timidly, unsure if he would want to talk to her when she should be sleeping. Striking up a conversation with her wasn't likely to aid her to that end.

"Hmm?" he asked to show he was listening, though he didn't pull his nose from his treasured orange novel.

"Um, Sensei, is… is what Lee's sensei said… Is it really true?"

"Guy says a lot of things, Sakura –you're going to have to be a little more specific." Silently, he wondered what was on the pink haired kunoichi's mind – she wasn't one to start a conversation with him unless something was really bothering her.

Another bolt of lightning flashed across the sky as a particularly loud roll of thunder resonated almost right above them. From the corner of his eye Kakashi noticed Sakura flinch and inch closer to him.

"Uh," she hesitated, obviously unsure if she really wanted to ask him, "He said that you once cut a bolt of lightning in half with just your chidori... Did-did you _really_?" The young kunoichi's eagerness to hear his answer prompted her to lean a little further into his personal space.

Kakashi pulled his eye from the pages of his book to actually look at her, feeling surprised at the hesitant awe he could hear in her voice and the fact that she had again shifted herself closer to him. After a moment he chuckled, realizing what the kunoichi's problem was and deciding to assuage it – in his own way and time of course. "No… Can't say that's true."

"Oh…" she sighed sounding a trifle disillusioned and turned her gaze from him to watch distant trees whip around in the wind as the rain finally started to fall.

After a few moments of sensing his student's evident disappointment he took pity on the visibly upset girl, noticing that she was beginning to shiver ever so slightly – though mentally he chalked up her shivering to the sudden drop in temperature rather than anything he may or may not have said to her. "I used a sword, too."

Bright eyes turned questioningly to him to ascertain if he was _really_ telling her the truth or just pulling her leg like he had done to Naruto countless times before. Kakashi smiled and nodded the affirmation Sakura obviously wanted and needed to hear.

She shyly returned his smile, feeling reassured – though of what she really couldn't say. Regardless, she felt better, though still not quite tired enough to sleep. Inattentively, she rubbed her arms as the tardy rain lowered the temperature of the air several degrees and she continued to watch the storm rage outside their little impromptu shelter.

He watched relief flood the concerned kunoichi's face and her posture relax. After waiting a moment to see if she had anything else on her mind, he pulled his book back out and flipped pages until he found his place. From the corner of his eye, he noticed his student begin to shiver in earnest from the sudden change in temperature.

A few minutes passed and Kakashi found that he couldn't take watching her silently freeze. As absently as he could muster, he fished around for a moment with his free hand before finally locating his blanket. With the skill and grace of an elite, he managed to wrap himself in the blanket, _accidentally_ including his student and pulling her the last couple inches to rest right up against his side in the process.

Inwardly, he grinned at her sharp intake of breath followed by only a moment's struggle before she realized what he had done. He could feel her eyes studying him questioningly for a minute before she audibly sighed and returned her gaze to the storm.

Several minutes later he felt her shift a little, settling herself more comfortably against his side before slowly relaxing entirely as sleep finally overtook her. Unbidden, his hand found her head to gently ruffle her hair before returning to his printed companion.

~*~*~*~

When Sakura woke in the morning, she realized two things. The first, her sensei had chosen not to wake her for her turn to stand watch. The second, she was not at the entrance of the cave where she guessed she had fallen asleep, and – judging by the strangely comforting scent –she was wrapped snugly in her Sensei's blanket instead of her own.

Groggily she lifted her head to take in her surroundings, Naruto and Sasuke were both sleeping soundly – just as they had been when she had left her own bedroll the previous evening. Glancing around the small cave she spotted her sensei, and like her two other teammates, just as he had been the night before, stretched out in the mouth of the cave with his ever present orange book. If it weren't for the blanket that clearly was not hers, she could have easily convinced herself that the conversation she had the previous evening had been nothing more than a dream.


End file.
